Watercooler Chats, With Emma from Serato
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Ever wondered what it really takes to become an expert? Malcolm Gladwell says it’s 10,000 hours, but we think it’s more about the small, overlooked moments that fill those hours.
In our latest series, Watercooler Chats, we peel back the curtain on office life with people who spend their days making the world a little more interesting. No fluff, just the real stories behind the titles.
We talked to Emma from Serato about how many of DJ Jazzy Jeff's friends can fit in a hotel room. Being Head of UX and Design at Serato, empathy is at the core of Emma's approach, encouraging her team to learn DJing and perform live sets to gain firsthand experience. We caught up with Emma for a chat around the watercooler.
What does your family think your job is?
Hanging out with world famous DJs, dance parties and video calls.
What's the most bizarre task you've had to do in your role?
Once, I found myself on a hotel bed in Anaheim, LA (because that was literally the only room left to sit) doing product research with DJ Jazzy Jeff and his sixteen closest friends.
If your job had a theme song, what would it be and why?
I was tempted to pick a classic d-floor banger but after checking the lyrics, I realised it's very NSFW. So, I'm going with "Virtual Insanity" by Jamiroquai— due to spending a lot of my day on video calls. With a pinch of "This Must be the Place" by Talking Heads, because cheesy as that is, I do feel at home here. I've been here for almost nine years!
What’s the most boring part of your job that you secretly enjoy?
I do a lot of research with our customers, and part of that is crafting questions, some of them for surveys, that then get thousands of responses you have to read through. I love asking the questions and then finding the answers..
Tell us something surprising about your job.
DJing makes us better designers. A big part of my job is helping the team build empathy for our DJs and producers, so they can make better design decisions. So, l encourage everyone to learn to DJ; and do a real DJ set - nothing beats understanding context like experiencing it. I know, l've done it!
Describe your job in one sentence, then explain why that description is misleading.
“To make sure our products have the best UX and the tightest design execution”. But that's misleading because my job is really just about helping Serato imagine the future into life, and this is about having the best people on the team, helping them focus on what’s important through prototyping, while having a really great time as we do it.
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What does your family think your job is?
My daughter swears I “sell sauce” and my husband insists I “just move boxes around.”